New Jammie Thomas juror steps forward
p2pnet news | RIAA News:- A second juror has decided to break the silence in a continuation of the Jammie Thomas (right) file sharing controversy.
Thomas, 30, an Ojibwe mother of two from Minnesota, was fined almost $250,000 in a civil trial brought against her by Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG’s RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).
Accused of being a music copyright infringer, she’s appealing the decision and on Tuesday, Michael Hegg, a 38-year-old steelworker from Duluth, where trial was staged (word used advisedly), called Thomas a liar.
But Thomas wasn’t taking the slur lying down.
Hegg admits he’s never been online and, “I don’t need to say too much, obviously,” Thomas said, according to CNET News.
He’d stressed Thomas’ Kazaa account username, Tereastarr, was the same as her email, online shopping, online dating and MySpace account usernames.
But, “This person (Hegg) has never been on the Internet, so how can he say whether my story is possible?” – asks Thomas in the story, adding:
“I’ve been contacted by Internet security experts who said that spoofing my address would have been trivial. Internet illiterate people are not going to be able to understand that.”
p2pnet wondered who’d be the next juror to break his or her silence and that turned out to be Lisa Reinke from International Falls.
“It’s tough because you can’t allow yourself to get involved emotionally,” Associated Press has her saying.
“You’re there to do a job, and that’s what you’ve got to do.”
Reinke, an artist who last year celebrated her 40th birthday with a solo show, said one juror had wanted the the maximum $3.6 million penalty levied against Thomas.
But the jury had reached its decision based on an “entirely erroneous” instruction going to the very heart of the case,” said New York lawyer Ray Beckerman was also representing RIAA sue ‘em all victims.
Beckerman also runs Recording Industry vs The People, a blog dedicated to carrying detailed detailed case histories and a list of lawyers who are defending people being sued by the members of the Big 4 organise music cartel.
The judge was Michael J. Davis.
In a p2pnet Reader’s Write, Elizabeth J announced she’d launched a donations site saying, “Now you can send donations directly to Jammie Thomas, sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) …”
“Funds are going directly into a client trust account created for Jammie by her attorney, Brian Toder,” says freejammie.com. “The funds are to be used for legal expenses, and for a PENDING APPEAL which may ultimately go to the Supreme Court.”
p2pnet readers contributed more than $15,000 to help New York mother Patti Santangelo take on the Big 4.
She was the one of the very first mothers to decide she wasn’t going to be cowed by the multi-billion-dollar Big 4 record labels and their legions of lawyers.
In another case, Tanya Andersen, a disabled Oregon mum, and her 10-year-old daughter, Kylee, have for the last three years been living a nightmare, thanks to Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG’s RIAA.
Now Andersen is suing the RIAA and other Big 4 intimidation units for malicious prosecution.
“They made life horrible and did a lot of damage,” she told p2pnet. “People need to fight back. It’s really wrong they can abuse their power like this. It was three years – two years for the lawsuit and a year when they were harassing me. It was horrible.
“It’s really important for me to tell people what they’ve done and I’m really thankful that I’m able to do that.”
Also See:
called Thomas a liar – First Jammie Thomas juror speaks out, October 9, 2007
CNET News – Defendant knocks Web illiterate juror in RIAA case, October 10, 2007
Associated Press – Jury Mulled $3.6 Million Download Award, October 10, 2007
Michael J. Davis – Hit the RIAA and Big Music where it hurts!, October 5, 2007
more than $15,000 – Michelle Santangelo demands trial by jury, August 9, 2007
malicious prosecution – Tanya Andersen sues the RIAA, June 25, 2007
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It’s really easy!Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for the official download, and here for details. Click here or here to learn what technologies may help you by-pass censorship in your area.
